Gene Fehler, a widely published and anthologized poet, is the author of over eighteen hundred published poems, stories and articles. 

Gene's work has been anthologized in college textbooks and in books published by Boyds Mill Press, Addison Wesley Longman, Hyperion Books for Children, Doubleday, St. Martin’s Press, Houghton Mifflin, Meadowbrook Press, Avon Books, Pocket Books and others.  Gene's tenth book, Never Blame the Umpire, a middle grade novel, is scheduled for hardcover publication by Zonderkidz on March 1, 2010.

In addition to continuing work on a broad assortment of writing projects, Gene spends several weeks a year with students as a visiting poet in South Carolina’s Artist-in-Education Program.  Gene's hobbies include playing tennis, golf, basketball, baseball and softball; and reading and collecting books.  His collection includes more than 600 children's poetry books and more than 3,200 sports books.

Gene grew up in Thomson, IL, a small Mississippi River town (population 500) in Northwestern Illinois.  Much of his writing has been influenced by his small town experiences and by his love of baseball.  He has lived, written, and taught in Illinois, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina.   He and his wife Polly now live in Seneca, South Carolina, where he continues writing, teaching, and participating in sports.     <more about Gene!>